how are these prices?

raider · Nov 2, 2004

I'm in a population deprived locale (north dakota) and I haven't really checked out the other photographers around here but how do these prices look in general - too high, too low? I tried to get an expecting mother to be photographed offering her a free 8X10 and she said - yeah but I still have to pay the 30 bucks for the package right? Didn't think 30 was too bad?!

website here

ksmattfish · Nov 2, 2004

That seems inexpensive to me.

raider · Nov 2, 2004

thanks for the feedback - I'm trying to attract and establish a customer base with low prices and I figure these were pretty low after researching prices around the country, but I'm sure there's people looking for dollar photography - so I don't know, we'll see if anyone bites. Kind of the wal-mart tactic - low prices for quick turn over.

green · Nov 3, 2004

I live relatively close... but on the wrong side of the 49th parallel. I think your prices are alright. Starting out I did the same thing with weddings, (to get as big a portfolio as quickly as possible) but personally I would up the portrait sittings. it looks good on paper to be making $70 in an hour, but you're not working 8 hour days, and you also need to factor in set-up, post processing time, travel (if applicable), waiting for latecomers, etc etc etc.

Alison · Nov 3, 2004

They seem low to me. I live in NH and also had our business in MN for a while. What we did was price at what we thought was reasonable and then offer a disount for a certain amount of time to get our portfolio started. Once we had a few shoots lined up and enough photos for a small portfolio we pulled the discount. It's worked well so far. We've been in business a little over a year and have seen our clientle grow slowly but steadily and have raised our prices once.

People won't come to you if you're the cheapest. If you try to compete with Wal-Mart you'll lose because your services aren't the same. You don't operate on the economies of scale that they do. One thing I learned was that I completely undervalued MY time in all of this. Sure there was paper and ink, but what about the hours I spend preparing, shooting and post processing the order.

photogoddess · Nov 3, 2004

Don't sell yourself short. I think that Alison's suggestion is a good one. Honestly, people shop price only to a degree. With weddings, it's a one shot deal. You might actually lose business because potential customers might wonder why your prices are so cheap.

Big Mike · Nov 3, 2004

Also, you don't want to attract clients with low prices and then suddenly jack your prices up to where they should be.

Set you prices higher and then work harder on selling your services.

green · Nov 4, 2004

I wouldn't recommend a sudden jack up either... BUT... where i'm from the typical cost for a professional wedding is about $1500... so shooting at $1000 as a beginner (of course this all depends on your skill too) is a good wage. Yes, there are some photographers in my city that are closer to $4000 for the day, but many of them have seriously outpriced their market.

I personally would rather get 20 weddings at a lesser price than 10 weddings at a higher one. when you're starting out, experience is more valuable than money.